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It covers nearly the same extent of ground as Sansanding; but having been plundered by Daisy, King of Kaarta, about four years ago, it has not yet resumed its former prosperity; nearly one half of the town being nothing but a heap of ruins. However, it is still a considerable place, and is so much frequented by the Moors, that I did not think it safe to lodge in it.
We were all very wet, for it rained almost the whole way; and all very hungry, having tasted nothing since the preceding evening. The town of Sobee has changed its situation three times. It was taken about ten years ago by Daisy, King of Kaarta, with thirteen horsemen and some of his slaves on foot. They carried off five hundred slaves, two hundred of which were women.
They, therefore, assembled about eight hundred effective men in the whole; and with these they entered Kaarta on the evening of the 18th of June. June 19th. This morning the wind shifted to the south-west; and about two o'clock in the afternoon we had a heavy tornado, or thunder squall, accompanied with rain, which greatly revived the face of nature, and gave a pleasant coolness to the air.
I had heard Bammakoo much talked of as a great market for salt, and I felt rather disappointed to find it only a middling town, not quite so large as Marraboo; however, the smallness of its size is more than compensated by the richness of its inhabitants, for when the Moors bring their salt through Kaarta or Bambarra, they constantly rest a few days at this place, and the negro merchants here, who are well acquainted with the value of salt in different kingdoms, frequently purchase by wholesale, and retail it to great advantage.
The Negroes, thus deserted by the Moors, and fully apprised that the King of Kaarta would show them as little clemency as he had shown the inhabitants of Kasson, resolved to collect all their forces, and hazard a battle, before the king, who was now in great distress for want of provisions, should become too powerful for them.
The negroes, thus deserted by the Moors, and fully apprised that the king of Kaarta would show them as little clemency as he had shown the inhabitants of Kasson, resolved to collect all their forces, and hazard a battle before the king, who was now in great distress for want of provisions, should become too powerful for them.
A war was on the eve of breaking out between Kasson and Kajaaga; the kingdom of Kaarta, through which his route lay, being involved in the issue, and was also threatened with hostilities by Bambarra. Taking these circumstances into consideration, the king advised Mr.
Daucari accordingly set out for Kooniakary on the morning of the 20th, and the same evening returned with the king's answer, which was to this purpose that the king had, many years ago, made an agreement with Daisy, king of Kaarta, to send all merchants and travellers through his dominions; but that if I wished to take the route through Fooladoo I had his permission so to do; though he could not, consistently with his agreement, lend me a guide.
I passed in the course of this day the ruins of three towns, the inhabitants of which were all carried away by Daisy, King of Kaarta, on the same day that he took and plundered Yamina.
Park dreaded the thoughts of passing the rainy season in the interior of Africa, and was averse to return to Europe, without having made further discoveries, he therefore rejected the well-meant advice of the king, and requested his majesty to allow a man to accompany him as near the frontiers of Kaarta as was consistent with safety.
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